Abstract

Even after seven decades of independence, tribal education is lacking behind. This paper explores the accessibility of school education to Scheduled Tribes in the state of Maharashtra with reference to the primary data collected from the students of primary and secondary level. Primary and secondary education are the foundations for higher education, be it higher secondary, which is entry point for any technical education and/or for university education. It aims to analyze the socio-economic and educational background of the tribal students, contextual realities of the family and neighbourhood, and the facilities and support system available to pursue education and achievements in comparison to non-tribal students.

Introduction:

Education in India is not widely attained by all (all category/community people) even after seventy years of independence. The accessibility of Indian education system has limited to some social groups who have been in upper socio-economic and political strata. Indian educational system is largely concerned with the existing formal structure of education and the institutionalized methodology which imparts knowledge to individuals with an unequal share of accessibility at different levels of education. There is a stark disparity to access education among different social groups of India. Within this unequal system of education many groups and sub-groups are not able to accessing education equally at different level of education; some of groups are far away from the other groups or communities. One can conclude from Chitnis (1981) study with reference to the vulnerable groups, that it is a long way to go to attain education for disadvantages groups. It has been argued that some groups require specific attention to access or attain education and come up to the main stream education. Tribes are the groups among them who require specific attention for their educational development. The educational ratio of tribals gives an insight into the regional variation in the relative disparity of tribes and others in the country. Educational ratio of tribes or Scheduled Tribes (STs) is very poor compared to the other categories at different levels of education (Deshpande 2001; NCERT nd.; Dreze and Kingdon 2001).

Accessibility of Education:

In education, the term ‘access’ typically refers to the ways in which educational institutions and policies ensure—or at least strive to ensure—that students have equal and equitable opportunities to take full advantage of their education. Increasing access generally requires schools to provide additional services or remove any actual or potential barriers that might prevent some students from equitable participation in certain courses or academic programs. Factors such as ethnicity, religion, gender, disability, perceived intellectual ability, past academic performance, special-education status, language ability, and family income or educational-attainment levels—in addition to factors such as relative community affluence, geographical location, or school facilities—may contribute to certain students having less “access” to educational opportunities (opportunity gap) than other students. This would lead to achievement gap in their academic as well as co-curricular growth.

Accessible education or educational accessibility is the process of designing courses and developing a teaching style to meet the needs of people from different of backgrounds, abilities and learning methods. Just as there is no single way to teach, people learn in a variety of ways; using different instructional methods will help to meet the needs of the greatest number of learners. It takes into account a range of student characteristics, including ethnic background, race, abilities, disabilities, age, gender, language abilities and preferred learning style (IAE nd). ‘Accessible and flexible curricula can serve as the “key” to creating “schools for all”. It is important that the curriculum be flexible enough to provide possibilities for adjustment to individual needs and to stimulate teachers to seek solutions that can be matched with the needs and abilities of each and every pupil’ (UNESCO 2000). The course delivery methods, physical spaces, information resources, technology, personal interactions with students, evaluation and assessment should reach to all background of the students (IAE nd).

However in Indian social system, the Tribals and other scheduled groups have been socio-economically and educationally excluded. The educational enrollment of ST students is very low compared to the other category of students at different levels of education. Except primary level the enrollment of STs is below 10 per cent in all levels. On the other hand for the others category the percentage of enrollment is 69 per cent at primary level. The Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) of STs is just 53.3 per cent for STs against 69.0 per cent of all categories at secondary education level (Statistics of School Education 2012). Despite many efforts of the government to improve the educational status of STs including other scheduled categories, the STs still remain backward, underprivileged and deprived from many resources at many places of society (Kijima 2006; Bagai & Nundy 2009).

As participation is an important factor in the education system, the paper highlights the access of education system through participation. The basic influencing factors related to participation are regularity of teachers, classroom teaching methods, approachability of the teachers and understanding of subjects by the students. The findings of the participation and access of the students in the education system includes the interaction between the students and all the stakeholders and vice-versa. Tribal people do not have to assimilate into anything because they have the sovereign dignity and freedom to adapt to any circumstances that will allow them to fulfill their dreams, aspirations and life pursuits. The method of participation can be achieved with keeping in mind their culture, freedom and sovereignty (Rupavath 2016). Participation is an extreme crucial element of learning. It is a proven fact that students learn better and retain more when they are active participants. Learning is an active process and should involve deliberation. This reflects their involvement in the school and their academic seriousness. But as our education system involves the banking system that speaks about one-way process. In our system the students are the depositories and the teacher is the depositor. Instead of communicating, the teacher issues communiques and makes deposits which the students patiently receive, memorize, and repeat. This is the ‘banking’ concept of education, in which the scope of action allowed to the students extends only as far as receiving, filing, and storing the deposits. They have the opportunity to become collectors or catalogers of the things they store. Such type of approach leads to lack of creativity, transformation, and knowledge in this system.

Scheduled Tribes in Maharashtr:

Out of several scheduled tribes communities in the country, 45 major tribal communities live in Maharashtra. All these tribes are having low economic and social status as compared to other social categories. Population wise Maharashtra has got second largest ST population at national ST population (Kokate and Solunke 2011). There are 1,05,10,213 (9.4 per cent of state population) people reported as STs, of which 53,15,025 (50.57 per cent) males and 51,95,188 (49.43 per cent) females. The growth rate for ST population in the state during 2001-11 is 22.5 per cent, in rural-urban division 20.3 per cent in rural areas and 37.9 per cent in urban areas. Gender wise decadal growth of the ST communities is 22.2 per cent for male and 22.8 per cent for female. Out of the total ST population in Maharashtra 9,006,077 (85.68 per cent) are staying in rural areas of which 4540456 (50.41 per cent) are males and 4465621 (49.59 per cent) are females. On the other hand very less percentage of people are staying in city or urban areas who constitute 1,504,136 (14.32 per cent), of which 774569 (51.49 per cent) are males and 729567 (48.51 per cent) are females. At district level Nandurbar has the highest proportion of ST population with 69.3 per cent followed by Gadchiroli of 38.7 per cent, Dhule of 31.6 percent and Nashik of 25.6 per cent (Census 2011).

Education of the STs in Maharashtra:

Educational status of STs is very low in Maharashtra like most of the other States. Out of the total enrollment, the enrollment of STs is 12.85 per cent where as it is 72.89 percent for others at primary education. The enrollment of STs at secondary level is reduced to 6.27 per cent when it is increased to 78.99 percent for others. At primary level the GER for STs is higher than the other category and signifies more number of STs are repeated or remained in primary level as over/under age enrollment. The GER of STs is much lower than the other categories at secondary, higher secondary and higher level of education which is just 49 per cent for STs against 73.7 per cent of all categories at secondary education level (Statistics of School Education, 2012).

Despite various constitutional provisions still the STs are struggling in their social, economic and educational life in the state and they are facing exploitation at every sphere of life. Including many problems, lack of education is a reason for their exploitation, the language issues are also a barrier in their development at different levels of education. Mainly due to the mother tongue influences they are unable to express to their ideas in the state language and other language. One of the arguments is that imparting education to the Gond children in their mother tongue and at the same time familiarizing them with their regional language were subsequently disappointed and it was difficult task for the teachers to teach every tribes’ mother tongue in one class room (von Furer- Haimendorf 1982).

Similarly, Bhargava (1989) and Kamble (1992) also studied on the educational facilities for weaker sections like STs/SCs. The educational policies and programmes are unable to encompass the complex social reality within a single framework and therefore, the gap between policy and practice remains unbridged. Unlike some of the other state governments, Maharashtra have experimented with partnering with non-government organizations in running tribal schools called Aashram Shalas but the ashram shalas have not been run well in the state (Kalra 2007). To raise the attendance and give English medium education the state government planned to open English medium schools in all 16 tribal districts of Maharashtra. Of the two lakh tribal students studying in 1100 schools across the state, the government is expecting one lakh students to benefit through this scheme (DNA 2010; Hindustan Times 2010). In Maharashtra and in few other states Panda (nd.) attempted to understand the challenges the ST children faced for more than six decades. His study mainly focuses to understand some of the disadvantages of the ST children facing in their educational life and was in search of how to bring those STs for holistic and inclusive development.

A study on attendance among children of STs in Nandurbar districts which found factors of non-participation of tribal children at school level. Through this study it was found that the concept of education is not familiar with the students at school level, as the true meaning of education was not understood by the student’s as well as parents, the attendance of STs in this district was found very low and the retention of the STs also was poor in the schools of this districts. The medium of instruction also played major role in attendance and retention of school going ST children of this school. As the medium of instruction in schools is Marathi, which is different from tribal dialects like Bhilli, Pawri, most of the tribal students are unable to understand the teaching learning process in the class. With the one way communication process, the students are sitting in the class as passive listener and most of them are either dropped out or not coming regularly to the school. The major hindrance which comes out through this study for the tribal children are the location of the school. The location of schools and the hilly and inaccessible terrain hindered school attendance. Migration is the most pertinent problem as 40 per cent of the population migrant to Gujarat on seasonal basis which caused the absenteeism of ST students in school. Apart from these the ST students lack motivation and concentration in the study when school is closed about 5-10 days (except Sundays) in a month as the teachers visit the block office to collect their salaries, attend teachers’ meetings, supply school statistics to block research offices and attend training programmes. So, the primary education of Schedule Tribes in terms of educational accessibility, attendance and retention in Maharashtra is poor which needs different policy intervention for their educational development (Chattopadhyay and Durdhawale 2009).

Since independence the country has moved on addressing various socio-economic and educational needs of citizens and specially for ST population through its policies and plans. But the above discussion does not give a satisfactory picture though there has been changes in the educational status of Schedule Tribes. Keeping in Chitnis’s study (1974) as the backdrop, this study aims to revisit and ascertain the educational accessibility of Schedule Tribes at the school level in Maharashtra.

Methodolog:

This article is part of larger empirical study on educational status of STs in Maharashtra. It has used the purposive stratified sampling on the basis of population and literacy. Four (4) districts were selected on the basis of high tribal population and high literacy (Nandurbar), high population and low literacy (Gadchiroli), low population and high literacy (Pune) and low population and low literacy (Parbhani). In addition the state capital district (Mumbai) was purposively selected without any choice. The sample size for this study is 1080 of which 540 are from upper primary and 540 are from secondary education level. Again the sample size is distributed with the ratio of 3:1 of ST and other students. Thus there are 405 ST students and 135 Other (Non-ST) students at each levels of education. Sixth (VI) and Ninth (IX) classes were chosen to collect the data at upper primary and secondary level respectively. Thus 810 ST and 270 Other students have been selected purposively with their availability. The major tool for this study was interview schedule and students were the primary source for the data collection. The data were collected separately from the ST and Other categories (non-ST/SC) students from upper primary and secondary level of education. The descriptive statistics have also been used to analyze the data comparing between ST and non- ST students to ascertain the accessibility of school education. The key variables are on the responses of the students on their family condition, social capital in the community and the access and participation in curricular and co-curricular activities in the school.

Family Background:

Simpson and Fiedler(1989) have identified four basic parental roles – parents as educational decision makers; parents as parents; parents as teachers and parents as advocates. The family background has implication on these parental roles which contribute the accessibility of tribal students at primary/secondary education. The family background certainly is an immediate environment with whom the students interact and thus contributes either positively or negatively on access to education.

Parents’ positive attitude towards child’s education is important in determining school attendance and academic achievement of the child. The socio-economic status of the parents can have impact on the education of their children. A child, brought up with affection and care in the least restrictive environment would be able to cope up better with the sighted world. Therefore, the family shapes the social integration of the child more than a formal school. Since the parent’s attitude is so important, it is essential that the home and school work closely together.

Residence of Parents:

Residential patterns reflect on the school choice (Douglas Lee Lauen, 2007) for the children to continue or drop out from the education system. Because in the urban context we find various kinds of institutions which can easily be accessed to higher education. In the urban context multiple options could be available for the students. But in the rural areas, one can not locate multiple options for the students to select the schools based on the choice.

Most of the parents (73%) live in the villages and some (27%) live in the towns/cities irrespective of the social categories. As Douglas (2007) says that due to the flexibility of the residence settlement there are push and pull factors which determines the decision making. He argues that the socio-economic and the residence may have a greater influence on the school choice by the parents.

Educational status of the head of households:

The educational status of the head of households may provide foundation to aspiration for the children. It shows that large percentages of them belong to primary (32%) and secondary (26%) level of education. A large percentage of them are illiterates. So for many of the students it is the first generation of education. As the level of education increases the percentage decreases. But within the social categories, tribal students have more illiterate heads of the households compared to the non-tribals. Among the tribals, larger percentage of head of the households have primary level of education whereas for other households it is the secondary level of education. So among the tribals, illiteracy or primary level of education is more than the others. The decline is more among tribals compared to others as the level of education increases though there are heads who are graduates and post graduates also among both the social categories.

Primary Occupation of the Head of the Households:

The traditional occupation of most of the households has been agriculture. Therefore, the main occupation of most of the head of the households are cultivation (37%), wage labour (20%), service (23%) and business (11%). While most of Tribal household heads are into cultivation (41%) and wage labour (22%), they are also into service (21%) and business (8%). The other household heads are more into service (30%) and business (19%) though they are also into cultivation (28%) and wage labour (14%) as their primary occupation (See Figure No.3). The education may have impact on their occupation to some extent, the occupation certainly has implication on their economic status of the household. A large percentage of the households have BPL ration cards (52%) while only 35% of them have APL ration cards. There are a few households who are likely to have Aatodaya card and some even do not have either of these ration card which determines the entitlements. Among tribal households most of the households (56%) have the BPL card though some have APL (35%) card whereas among others most of them have the APL(47%) card which is just the opposite of tribal households. This would indicate the socio-economic status of the households.

Housing condition:

Housing condition is one of the very important factors affecting the education of the children. It has been found that about 43% of tribal households have pucca house whereas about 63% of the non-tribal households have the same. A large percentage of the tribal households have either semi-pucca or kutcha house compared to the non-tribal households. Some of them even live in huts. Many (22%) of the households have one room house despite having housing programme for the poor in the country for decades like Indira Awas Yojana and so on. In such situation one can not expect them to do well in their studies. However, large percentage of them have 2-3 room house. One can not expect to have room/ space for study in one room house or even in case of house with 2-3 rooms. Therefore a large percentage (78%) of the students belonging to both the social categories do not have separate room for studies at home. Almost all (97%) of the non-tribal households have electricity at home, while there are lesser percentage (89%) of tribal households have it.

Though English language is not absolute indicator to measure knowledge and ability of a student, an English speaking person in the family or neighbourhood may motivate in studies. It is found that about 35% of the tribal households have English speaking person in the family whereas, it is 50% in the non-tribal households. Similarly, same percentage (23%) of households among tribes and non-tribes have some close relatives in government service. There have been college level educated person/s around them among both the communities. But these educated individuals within their own tribe/community are more among tribals than non-tribals, whereas for the non-tribals it is other community members who are college educated in their neighbourhood.

Figure 1 : English Speaking at home and Close relative in Government Service

There are english speaking persons, college educated and government servants in the neighbourhood. They serve as social as well as economic capital in the neighbourhood. However, only 47% of the students seek guidance from such educated neighbours. The non-tribals (53%) are more pro-active and forthcoming to seek guidance for education from these educated persons than the tribal students (45%).

“It takes a village to raise a child” is a popular proverb with a clear message: the whole community has an essential role to play in the growth and development of its young people. In addition to the vital role that parents and family members play in a child’s education, the broader community too has a responsibility to assure high-quality education for all students( Roekel, 2008).

Needed Support

	Financial		Academic/ Educational		Encouragement/Moral & Psychological		Financial/Encouragement/Moral & Psychological
	Tribal	Non-Tribal	Tribal	Non-Tribal	Tribal	Non- Tribal	Tribal	Non- Tribal
First	Father	Father	Teacher	Teacher	Uncle	Uncle	Mother	Mother
Second	Mother	Mother	Neighbour	Brother/ Sister	Teacher	Teacher	Father	Father
Third	Grand Parents/ Uncle	Grand Parents/ Uncle	Brother/ Sister	Neighbour	Neighbour	Neighbour	Grand Parents	Grand Parents

The students are mostly in need of financial, educational, academic encouragement/moral and psychological support in the course of their studies. The matrix shows the sources for different needs in terms of their choice/preference. The family members specially parents along with grand parents, are the support for heir financial and emotional need. The teachers and neighbours also provide the emotional support. But for their academic/educational need they go to teachers, brothers/sisters and neighbours. Across the social categories the sources of the support and in their preferences are almost the same.

Access to the School:

In the state of Maharashtra, there are multiple agencies running educational institutions. The public schools are run by the Zilla Parishad, Ashram schools by Department of Tribal Development. Many schools are run by the NGOs/Societies with financial support of Department of Tribal Development schools and Social Justice and Empowerment. The third category is private schools without any state support. There are about 1100 Ashram schools run and supported by the Department of Tribal Development in Maharashtra where about 4.5 lakh children have been studying according to the report of TISS(2016). As the ashram schools provide the free education with residence facilities which takes care of their stay, food, uniform and the books and stationaries for the tribal children most of the tribal parents from the far away villages prefer to send their children to these schools for education due to their financial and other support constraints. It has been found that the students are studying in three types of schools viz: public, private-aided and private- unaided schools.

As most of the parents live in rural areas, a significant percentage (26%) of the students stay in the hostel and some (6%) of them stay with the relatives/others for the studies. Within the social categories, only 19% of the non-tribal students stay away from parents while about 37% of the tribals stay in the hostels/ with relatives for studies.

However, the findings of the TISS(2016) study shows that much is lacking where the education facilities for tribal populations are concerned. Though 16% (174) schools have scored as very good, many of the other schools do not meet the infrastructural requirements like the amount of land (minimum 2 hectare), class room space, Office for the Head Master, staff room, storage room, kitchen, dining room, sick room, lights and fans etc. Similarly, the living space and provisions like bedding/mattresses, poorly maintained rooms with broken doors and windows in many cases are the serious concerns. There are many school hostels the students have to go out for defecations and taking bath as there are unusable toilets and bath rooms or not available. The school and hostel surrounding is also not cleaned or not so cleaned. This can cause for the breeding ground for malaria and many other illnesses. These conditions lead to poor health and hygiene of the residents. The girl students are prone to poor reproductive health care with poor monitoring of menstrual cycle and provision for sanitary napkins. Though lunch is provided as per the norms, hardly the hostels provide breakfast despite having the provision for it. This can affect the nutritional status of the students. The unhygienic living condition draws attention for improving the living condition and the proper health care services as many children have been dying mostly from illnesses.

Safety and security is also a concern as many of the schools are with no boundary wall and no security guards. Many of the wardens posts are vacant and so the some of the staff are given additional responsibility some times. Without the basic living condition, one cannot expect the quality education to be delivered, though curriculum and pedagogy are other crucial elements in imparting education to tribal communities. The poor condition of the Ashram schools is an injustice to the young tribal boys and girls, violation of Right to education, disrespect to human dignity. The objective of the Ashram school is not met in true sense.

The Honorable Supreme Court’s hearing on public interest litigation against Andhra Pradesh government on May 9, 2014 said that: “Separate toilets for girls and boys as well as availability of water are essential for basic human rights that enhance the atmosphere where the education is imparted. It can also be put in the compartment of basic needs and requirements in schools” (Suchitra 2014). The court made it clear that these facilities were integral to Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009. Therefore, the existing poor condition on toilets and provision of water for drinking and washing/bathing for the students in the ashram schools would mean failure to ensure basic amenities in the schools by the state as well as other agencies running the schools and violation of RTE Act.

The declining trend on the enrollment in public schools and the increasing enrollment in the private or semi-private schools is a common concern. However, it is the reality that more and more parents would like to send their children to private schools. It has affirmed this changing school choice. However, between the tribals and non-tribals it is found that still a significant percentage (37%) of the tribal parents choose to send their children to public school whereas some of parents of non-tribals student have chosen to send their children to public schools. Most of the students irrespective of social categories expressed that they did not have problem in getting admission except a few who had problems like in submission of necessary certificates, financial problem, lack of seats.

Sitting arrangements:

The sitting arrangements do have impact on on the learning processes. The students sitting in the first rows are likely to be more attentive and also generally answer the question asked in the class than those sitting in the back. In the study, about one third (32%) of the students sit in first row whereas they find a few (7%) of the students of their respective communities sit in the first row (See Figure No.12). A large percentage of them (53%) have said that teachers decide the sitting arrangement though many of them also choose the place themselves (See Figure No.13). Similarly, the schools have many provisions like library, computer to facilitate/improve the knowledge of the students. But the data showed that more than half of the students use computer (61%) and library (53%) but comparatively not-tribal students access them more than the tribal students. Most of the library visitors read story books/novels and then course materials in the library.

Though mid-day meal does not contribute directly to the academic aspect of education, it certainly contributes indirectly. Many times it becomes an attraction for the day scholars. Mid day meal is not only the supplementary nutrition for the children but also a space of socialization in the schools where they share a common food, common space and some time share the responsibilities like serving food in turn across social groups. Most of the children in the Upper primary level are served MDM while the students from secondary education do not get MDM.

Curricular Participation of the students:

The participation reflects the accessibility of education system of the students. The participation in the classroom leads to the involvement in the system. It also reflects the attachment with the school and education system. The quality of involvement in the class by the students can be accessed through the quantity and quality of the questions and answers by the students. The effects of the opposition of banking system can be found out through this method of participation. The percentage of raising question in the class by the students increases with the increase in the standard of education (Rupavath, 2016).

TISS(2016) study shows that many Ashram schools do not have black board in the class room, maps and charts in each classroom. Proper lights and fans in each classroom. This can have implication in the teaching and learning processes in the schools. It has been observed that about 58% of the students irrespective social categories find difficulties in understanding classroom teaching mostly in language subject followed by maths. It shows that more ST students are facing problem to understand the classroom teaching than other students. However, about 42% of the students do not find it difficult in class room teaching.

About 81% of the students ask question in the class to clarify their doubts. Across the social categories it is observed that 78% of the tribal students ask questions where as 89% of the Non-Tribal students ask questions in the class for clarifications. Similarly, when the teacher asks questions to the students most of the students (95.5%) answer while a few students (4.5%) do not answer question as they do not know the answer. The tribal students feel so more (5%) than the other students (3%).

Guidance and Advice Seeking from Teachers:

Teachers are one of the important sources of academic as well as psychological and motivational support. Teacher motivation contributes more to teaching – learning process than teacher competence. Thus, 40% of the students who seek guidance and advice from teachers quite often, whereas 45% of them go to them sometimes and 15% of them never go to the teachers for any advice or guidance. Across the social categories the non-tribal students seek guidance more than Tribal students whereas most of Tribals students go sometimes to the teachers. As the students are scared and they feel that teachers may not hear them. This depends on multiple factors which have two sides. In one side the students’ confidence and comfort to use a language to articulate, comfort to ask and/or share the difficulties; on the other hand the teachers’ openness, patience and caring nature would make feel good for the children/students to seek guidance/advice.

Today tuition has become so common in schools that if a child does not go to tuition it would be considered some thing is wrong. As many students find difficult to understand in the class, it would be advisable to have remedial classes rather than to look for tuition class which has huge financial implication. There are 26% of the students going for private tuition. It is observed that most of the non-ST students (42%) go for it while just 20% of Tribal students go for private tuition. The parents living in urban areas and with economically capable to pay for tuition fee send their children for tuition. In the rural areas and specially the tribal parents with low income neither can afford not spare the children for tuition as it has economic implications. The average time spent daily on different activities shows that the tribal students spend 3.76 hours on studies where as the non- tribal students spend 3.02 hours. Similarly, when the tribal students spend 2.24 hours on household work, others spend 2.35 hours. So the students spend more time on studies than household work as well as other work. All the efforts in and outside the class room for the studies culminate in their annual examination. The performance in the previous year’s annual examination shows that large percentage of the students passed in the 2nd division though 2nd largest percentage in 1st division. Across the social categories, non-ST students have done better in their annual examination than the ST students.

The education is not only the curricular aspects; but also the extra-curricular aspects also for the holistic development of the students. Co-curricular activities are extremely important for the holistic development of the students such as games and sports, socio-cultural activities. If they are encouraged to play games that do not require expensive equipment which cultivate sportsmanship and camaraderie, that is, games such as kho-kho, kabaddi , etc., the tribal students can really excel and may go ahead to participate at state, national and international level competitions. This small step may play a vital role in promoting the physical, mental and emotional health of the students (Jojo, 2013).

It was found that about 25% of the students get to take the leadership roles in different activities like house captain, captain in the sports. However, the other (Non-Tribal) students get more opportunity than the tribal students. Hardly the schools have picnic/study tour for students.

Aspiration of the Students:

Most of the students (50%) were found still not clear about their aspirations on studies. And so some of them expressed that it would depend on the parents and/or the family members. The percentage of ST students were found to be more than other social category students with lack of clarity on their aspiration. However, there were students with the aspiration of studying Engineering, Medicine, Graduate and Post-graduate level and even MPhil/PhD across the social categories. As the higher percentages of ST students lack clarity in their future, lesser percentage of this social category students could articulate about their aspirations for higher studies than the non-tribal students. Nevertheless, many of the ST students showed aspiration to go for the higher studies. In response to the question on what would they like to become in life, it was found that most of them would like to work in government department as government servants, join police force and teaching profession is the most preferred job among the students specially among the ST students. It may be noted that there are some of the unconventional professions they expressed as their aspiration like to be interior designer, painter, sports coach, artist, journalist, film maker across the social category.

Though significant percentage (42%) of ST students think that other students know about their social identity, just a few (2.2%) feel it makes difference in their behaviour towards them. A large percentage of them do not respond on this question while many of them feel it does not make any difference. It could be true to an extend as there is hardly any discrimination on the basis of social identity to take water or use the toilets in the school. The students say that the cleaning of the toilets and the class rooms is mostly done by the staff, still some students from both the social categories say that it is done by the students in group by rotation.

Feeling of Humiliation and Insecurity:

The way discrimination can be visible with SC students may not be in the same with ST students. The discrimination with tribals may be practiced in in terms of inferiorization and humiliation which are invisible. One would be able to observe or experience in their interaction process. Evidence from responses of ST students who have felt the expression of teachers and the non-tribal classmates which implies- “You do not have the ability to study”; “their( tribal) community does not understand the value of education” and also “they (tribals) do not deserve to be educated”. There are teachers and the non-tribal students who communicate these kind of demeaning messages in their behaviour towards the tribal students. These kind of experiences adds to low self confidence and humiliation to the tribal students.

Salunkhe Committee the report on the issue of deaths in Ashram schools to the Maharashtra governor which noted that an alarming 1,077 deaths had transpired in 15 years at the tribal schools, 493 of them were girls. Sexual assaults, suicide, lack of medical help, malnutrition and negligence were cited as major causes for the deaths. “In 67 percent cases, there was no proper mention of the cause of death in the death certificates,” states the report, adding that schools could not produce any data regarding 12 percent deaths while vague descriptions like “unknown cause”, “severe illness” and “sudden death” were the other reasons. “We had a feeling that the girls were being sexually exploited, but it was obvious they were under pressure from teachers and the management and would not open up to us,” Salunkhe had reportedly said. “Since death certificates in most cases were vague, missing most crucial details, reason of their deaths cannot be ascertained. Sexual exploitation angle cannot be ruled out”(Firstpost, September 25, 2017). This is an alarming situation. The cases of deaths and abuse increase the feeling of insecurity both by the students and the parents.

Conclusion:

Accessibility of school education to the Scheduled Tribe students in Maharashtra is very minimal as the MHRD data reveals in enrollment and GER defined at State level. One could see that there has been increase in the rate of literacy, GER among the tribes over the years. However, when it is looked at in relation to other social categories the picture is dismal as the education has been implemented mostly from the functionalist perspective to universalise the primary education and integrate the tribes into the mainstream. The conclusion of Chitnis (1981) argues “there is a long way to go to attain or access education for disadvantages groups” is still relevant. The empirical data of this study concludes that most of the ST students in Maharashtra are with poor socio-economic and educational context which coincide with poor access, participation in curricular, extra-curricular activities compared to other social category students. The “context” – the historical, cultural and environmental factors both at home and at the schools of the students are hardly taken into consideration for the tribal education. The curriculum and pedagogy evolving from the context could prevent stagnation and drop out of the tribal students. However, that has remained far from satisfaction in our educational policies and programmes. This could be attributed to the “system” which does not recognize the “structures”, that is founded on “perspectives” which are not sensitive to the “context” of the tribes.

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Bipin Jojo is Professor, Centre for Social Justice and Governance, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai 400088

Dhaneswar Bhoi is Consultant, Educational Survey Division, National Council of Educational Research and Training, New Delhi-110016, (worked as Research Associate in ICSSR Project on Educational Status of Scheduled Tribes in Maharashtra: Attainment and Challenges, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai 400088)

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